The winner, who will be announced April 2, will receive $15,000; other finalists are awarded $5,000 each. They will be honored May 10 at the 34th annual PEN/Faulkner Award ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Everett, who has written more than 20 books, lives in Los Angeles where he is a Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California. "Percival Everett by Virgil Russell" is set in a nursing home where a man is visiting his aging father and the men tell overlapping tales. The novel was widely praised by critics and chosen one of the Best Books of 2013 by Publishers Weekly. -- Mary Ann Grossmann